COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Columbia City Council decided against imposing a night curfew but passed a measure designed to crack down on large house parties.
The decision came during their meeting Tuesday afternoon. The group spent over two and a half hours in a closed-door executive session before announcing their course of action.
Mayor Steve Benjamin said the council decided that for now, they won't put back in place a curfew, because Gov. Henry McMaster's 'Last Call' executive order, which prohibits the sale of alcohol at bars after 11 p.m., is in place. He asked the governor to keep that rule in place. However, Benjamin said if that order expires, they reserve the right to pass a curfew.
Instead, the council said it wants to target large house parties and updated a city ordinance on rental properties to do just that. The change states that renters and landlords will be guilty of a serious offense if they hold large gatherings in defiance of the governor's order against large gatherings. More than one offense could lead to a revoking of the right to rent the property.
The mayor said the city would be working with city's code enforcement division and the fire marshal's office to help with enforcement. He also said that he would work with apartment complexes to stop large gatherings at pools as well.
Thousands of students have returned to the University of South Carolina for the start of fall semester. At some places, such as the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, large parties were blamed for virus case clusters, which ultimately led that college to move to virtual class for undergraduate students.
On April 8, the City of Columbia passed Ordinance 2020-037, which established a curfew beginning April 10 that restricted travel and gatherings from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. within city limits. At that time, there were 2,552 confirmed cases of the coronavirus throughout the state, 372 cases in Richland County and 128 cases in Lexington County, and 63 deaths statewide. This ordinance followed a two week Stay Home, Stay Safe ordinance that was enacted on March 29 that mandated all but essential services personnel to basically quarantine at home in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus.
The initial curfew ordinance expired at the beginning of June.
Last week, during the Aug. 4 City Council meeting, council approved the extension of emergency ordinances requiring face masks to be worn in public spaces and for the temporary suspension of normal operating procedures of City Council and City Boards and Commissions meetings. Council and board meetings have been conducted via Zoom since mid-March.
